


Ink to Erase and Rewrite

by Mimitanuki



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Blood, Jason's foul mouth, M/M, Markings, Nudity, Slave Trade, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-08-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 20:04:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1996035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimitanuki/pseuds/Mimitanuki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Red Hood raided a group of drug smugglers, the second-to-last thing Jason expected was to be abducted in the middle of the fight by a race of galactic slave traders.</p>
<p>The last was to find that Nightwing had also been captured.</p>
<p>With both of them trapped in an unknown world, slaves to a twisted master, Jason and Dick must work together in order to survive and find a way home. Which, considering how all their last encounters end, is going to be quite a problem.</p>
<p>Will the pressure and past bad blood between then destroy them both? Or will they find a way to erase bad memories and rewrite their future?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place with Jason as Red Hood and Dick as Nightwing, but with no real chronological accuracy. Jason is still quite hostile to the Bats in general, and Dick is currently single and him and Babs are not a couple.
> 
> I don't know whether I should continue this story, it's just some random thoughts about these two that popped in my head. I will continue to write it for as long as my muse doesn't go on holidays, though. It's my first publication too, so forgive any mistakes you may find.
> 
> Rated mature for language, Jason's fault entirely. Next chapters will include naked slaves and REALLY awkard situation for the boys, and if it comes to that we'll see sex scenes. In that case ratings will go up.

Jason didn’t quite remember what had happened, to be honest. His mind was a blank sheet, with tiny fragments of memories coming back at him from time to time. Gunshots, fire, screams. After the hundredth time trying to arrange them into something useful, he gave up and started to look around him, taking in his surroundings and his current state.

The first thing he noticed is that he was naked. Fucking awesome. His body sported lots of small cuts, bruises and burns he didn’t quite remember sustaining, but none of them seemed to hurt too much to be a liability in case –a much too probable case- that he needed to crush a few jaws and limbs to escape from… wherever he was.

Which made him notice the rudimentary cell he was in. It was a stone room, with no doors or windows, at least not that he could tell. But he had to be placed in there somehow. Which left two options: an extremely well hidden mechanism and a hidden door –and that Jason liked, since technology could be sorted and blown up- or magic. He was so hoping it wasn’t the second one. He hated magic.

He tried to move, but discovered he has his wrists locked by a pair of sturdy looking cuffs. The young man groaned, slapping himself mentally for not noticing them before. They were exceptionally light, but they didn’t move an inch no matter how much Jason struggled. In the end he resigned himself and let them alone.

Minutes passed slowly, and the man started boiling with anger. He was trapped naked in an unknown place, with no means to free himself, and his captors were planning on letting him die of boredom. He was going to blow up some heads when he had his gun back.

He didn’t have time to finish the thought when he felt a chill run down his spine, and felt something approach him behind his back. He spun as fast as his restraints let him and rolled to the side, facing whatever had caused him to shiver.

Jason groaned when he saw a translucent figure enveloped in a black tunic float meters from the ground. Even if he couldn’t see his face, the captive was pretty sure the figure was a man. Magic was winning the match against tech and he hated that.

“Keen senses, I see. You felt my presence before I appeared completely and acted accordingly to avoid any possible threat. You have been well trained in the arts of war, human.”

“Who the hell are you? And where I am?” growled Jason, eyes narrowing in suspicion and body taut as a bow string, ready to attack.

The mysterious figure seemed to be taken aback by his words, and the young vigilante felt a surge of dark satisfaction.

“I… had heard of the rudeness of your race, but hearing it for myself…” murmured the cloaked man, seemingly paying no attention to Jason’s inquiry.

“Well, excuse me if I swear, I woke up fucking naked and sore in a cell with no memory of what happened…” he spat, rising from the crouching position.

His outburst was suddenly ended when the creature in front of him raised a finger and a black collar closed off his throat, cutting of all sounds escaping from it. The restraint had materialized from nothing, and Jason cursed his luck. Magic was a bitch, no matter what that witch Zatanna said.

The collar continued constraining his throat, and Jason groaned and threw a death glare towards his captor. A twitch in the hand of the cloaked figure and the collar closed so not only air could not escape his body, it couldn’t enter either. The young man wheezed, trying to breath, trying to get air inside him. His lungs were on fire, and Jason felt his limbs losing strength. He refused to go down without a fight, though. He forced his legs to keep him straight, and even though they were trembling with effort, he remained on foot.

“Commendable will. You were born a fighter” commented the figure.

Jason glared at him with even more intensity. His vision was starting to blur, but he refused to yield. Agonizing seconds passed, and the vigilante started to lose consciousness, his body covered in sweat from the effort. The young man cursed again, and let out an undignified gasp that sounded too much like a whimper for his liking.

Then the pressure on his throat was gone, the same with the collar. As the air filled his chest again, he coughed and fought the nausea that was threatening to make him empty his stomach. He wasn’t a fan of expired donuts and bad coffee, but better than go into battle and have his body growling in front of the thugs of Gotham.

He didn’t take into account hyper oxygenation. The sudden burst of air did it for him and his muscles went into a lockdown, making him fall to his knees, and then to his side. He snarled, humiliated, and tried to take control of his body again. The shivers wouldn’t stop, and Jason heard the cloaked man humming appreciatively.

“I knew it was a good choice to pick you up from that place. You will be a good entertainment” the man said, as he approached the fallen body.

Jason snarled again, trying to get away, but the hand of the cloaked figure made contact with his chest, and suddenly a wave of heat exploded in his body, threatening to engulf him whole. Jason screamed, ready to feel the pain, but none of it came to him. Instead, his body stopped trembling and he was raised from the ground by an invisible force. _I fucking hate magic',_ he thought.

“What the hell did you do to me?” asked Jason, trying to get a clear look to the man behind the dark cape.

“If you survive, your master is going to have a hard time breaking those bad manners” said the man, disgust clear in his voice.

Jason furrowed his brow.

“You’re slave traders” growled the vigilante.

“Incorrect. We are collectors of different abilities and characteristics, which we sell to his according price” corrected the figure.

“In my dictionary that means slave traders. Your kind makes me sick, and the moment I have a weapon with me I swear I’m going to kill you all”.

“Our goods are of an unequivocally quality. You should be honored to have been chosen”.

“Fuck you”.

Jason felt a slap cross his right cheek, and then the other. It hadn’t been a physical hit with a physical hand, but something like an energy punch. Which made the whole deal more humiliating, as if he were a kid that needed to be taught a lesson. He threw a murderer look to the cloaked man.

“You. Are. So. Screwed” he snarled.

The other man sighed. Suddenly the cell around them disappeared and Jason found himself floating over a round plaza, disturbingly similar to a roman circus. The place was full of people, from those who looked human to all kinds of aliens. _A market. It’s a damn market_ , thought Jason, angry beyond words. He was going to be sold like an animal to who knows what kind of rich creature from space.

Two figures suddenly appeared in front of Jason. One of them was a cloaked man, just like the one that had him floating naked, and a creature that resembled a bear, but with the head and claws of a lion. The man in tunic raised a hand, and blue markings swept across the body of the alien, as if they were alive. The public cheered, and then another two figures appeared next to the other two. And again, it was a cloaked man and another creature.

Jason understood.

“You’re showing us. Show the people out there the merchandising, aren’t you?”

His cloaked friend nodded.

“That is right. You are part of the Strength category. Quite a feat if you ask me. You are the first human to make it into this one.”

Jason found out that he couldn’t move in the slightest when he felt the urge to throttle that man. He would have to wait for the spell that was sustaining him in the air –and keeping him in place- disappeared.

Then the man at his side raised his hand, as the rest of his companions had done, and Jason suddenly saw red markings appear in his body, very much the same way they had appeared in the other captives. They were furiously crossing his body, taking the shape of flames some times, and blood splatters others.

The buyers seemed excited about them, and Jason heard their voices louder and more demanding than before. Next to him, his captor made a satisfied noise as the multitude cheered.

“Seems like they like you, human. They see your rage boiling inside you, your bloodlust. The markings I put on you before can show your feelings, and they like what they see” explained the other man. _Wow, how nice_ , thought Jason with black humor.

The man at his side continued his explanation, unaware of what went through Jason’s head. “The markings can also act as a weapon, a shield, even garments to please a master. However you use them, depends on you”.

Jason opened his eyes at the sudden realization. “You’re not selling us as it is. You’re making us fight against each other!” he burst.

The man looked in his direction. “Of course. Perfect quality means that from hundreds of subjects, only the ones that show true Strength will be up for the auction” said with a calm voice. “I would like very much you survived. Of course, you are up against some of the most fierce warriors of the galaxy, so if you want to live…”

“I’m going to rip your head off your fucking neck!” yelled Jason putting all his force into moving his body.

“You should keep that attitude throughout the battle. You just need to relocate that anger” commented the cloaked man, snapping his fingers.

Before he could comprehend what had happened, the magic that was making him float released Jason and he fell to the ground. His training kicked in and he managed to ease the fall by rolling to his side. A horn called, and then all the prisoners like him threw themselves each against the other with incredible fury.

Jason knew why. All of them were thinking the same, after all.

To win meant to live.

Jason couldn’t help but smile. What had that man said? Relocate his anger? Well.

“C’mon, big boys. Let me show you how I fucking relocate my anger” said Jason, a twisted smile in his lips and body ready to take even the devil on.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Dick Grayson had never been one to swear unless he was mad at something or someone. It just happened that this time, that someone had been himself. And the whole universe. The universe and his stupid cosmic jokes.

“I’m so done with this shit. Shit like this isn’t supposed to happen thirty minutes before my date with Babs” he mumbled, pacing around the room he was in. A wooden room, all pretty and cozy and without doors. Windows neither, by the way.

Which made the place eerily similar to a wood coffin. Dick threw away the thought immediately. He really didn’t need a claustrophobia attack to kick in. He took a look for the eighth time, searching for some hidden mechanism that would free him, but to no avail.

He sighed, resting his hands in his hips and trying to not dwell in the fact that he was stark naked. By now he would be late for his date, and Barbara would be mad at him. Dick wished that she felt something was odd, and not that he was pursuing some bad guy around the city. He wished she suspected something happened to him. He wished she would call Batman and… Well, he didn’t really know what he wished. He wasn’t up for a lecture from Bruce.

He just wanted to go home. There wasn’t any way to know what his mysterious captors would do to him. He didn’t feel strange in anyway, nor he was hurt, but one never could be completely sure with alien forces in the equation.

Moreover, his body was now showing strange blue markings that twirled and moved like waves, and sometimes they would spike when Dick got nervous or anxious. He quickly got a hang on the strange ink; it seemed to respond to emotional stimuli by default but with a little concentration Dick could command it to create the patterns he wanted.

Not that decorating himself was going to help him escape, but still.

He was relocating the ink to recreate the blue pattern of his Nightwing suit when he felt a presence inside the room. Behind him the figure of a woman in a white tunic floated towards him, until there was less than a meter between them. The ways she dressed reminded him vaguely of Raven. The woman seemed to be peaceful, at least for now, so Nightwing made no aggressive movement and stayed as relaxed as he felt comfortable.

“You truly are a creature of beauty” said the mysterious woman. “In the dark of the night I couldn’t appreciate your features fully”.

 _Oooookay,_ thought Dick _._ That kind of reaction between him and his enemies was getting old. And annoying. “Umh, thanks. I guess”.

“I see you have already discovered how to emphasize your charm with the ink” she said, her tone light and amused.

Dick opened his arms and made the blue pigment dance around his torso.

“This? Quite easy. Knowing why have you brought me here –wherever here is-, not so easy, lady” he commented, trying to keep his tone casual.

“As I said, you are beautiful. For a human, your body is well toned, your face is symmetric and easy to the eyes and your movements are graceful. We collectors don’t let creatures such as yourself waste in places where no one can truly appreciate your allure.

Dick tried very hard not to palm his face at the explanation. He had been kidnapped because some alien race thought he was hot. He didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.

“As a matter of fact, I don’t really care if my… eh… charm… gets wasted. I like my world, you know. And I had my share of girlfriends who I think would argue with you about not being truly appreciated. But I’m getting carried away. What I mean is, maybe you could take me home…?” he said.

The answer was instantaneous. “No. You have been chosen by the collectors. You will be presented as a top notch representative of the Beauty category. It is an honor”.

 _Well, that sounds bad_ , thought Dick, frowning as the implications of his current situation unfolded. He was going to be sold as a slave, and judging from the name of the “category”, not just a slave. A sex slave.

The day couldn’t get worse. He felt his temper rising, and he stopped pretending to be just an easygoing pretty face. He stepped away from the woman and tensed his body. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m not going to go with your plan with a smile plastered on my face, ma’am” he said, voice low and menacing.

She seemed to be taken aback by his sudden change of disposition. “Why do you refuse? It’s an honor to be selected from billions of life forms in the galaxy.”

“Okay, look. I’m honored, but there’s no way I’ll agree in becoming someone’s slave” he retorted, louder this time. “Take me home.”

The woman seemed horrified, and for a few seconds she didn’t react. When she snapped back, she was no longer trying to be sweet and caring.

“I heard humans can be deceiving in both looks and character, but I never thought a creature of your presence would have such a crude attitude” she said, disgusted.

Nightwing smiled darkly. “I was born in a circus, ma’am. I guess growing surrounded by the animals there made it for me.”

The silence fell and the tension could be cut with a butter knife. Dick feared he had taken the nastiness too far, but she made no movement to attack him.

“Such a shame for me, to be deceived this way. You don’t leave me any options, human. I’d ask you to choose a beautiful pattern to decorate your body with, but I don’t think you will collaborate with me” she whispered. Then she raised her hand and sudden pain coursed through his whole body, making him scream. It felt like fire was spreading through his veins, and Dick noticed, even with a pain-fogged mind, that the woman was moving the ink of his body however she pleased, going against his will, forcing patterns to appear in his skin.

The process was painful, and Dick strained himself trying not to scream. In the end, the fire subsided and the strength left his body, making the vigilante fall to the ground. He panted, trying to recover a minimal piece of self control, and found that the ink was somehow embed into his skin now. The blue markings had taken the shape of a flock of birds that went from his right knee to his left shoulder, running up his stomach and torso. A flower pattern decorated his hands and feet, and if the numb feeling in his face was indicative of something, he also had some ink up there, and in his lower back.

The woman approached him again, and touched his neck. Dick felt the tightness of a collar closing any sound he might make, and he growled, his eyes throwing darts at his incarcerator.

“I am sorry it had to come to this. If you had just stayed pretty and said nothing, this would have been easier” she said, her voice emotionless. “Come, we must go to the Arena. Today we are presenting the categories of Strength and Beauty, so the warriors must be fighting now. We will enjoy the spectacle and then you will be showed along with the victors of each round of combats and some other Beauty representatives.”

Dick didn’t want to move, but given his circumstances, he hadn’t any options left. He was sure any kind of opposition would only end in more pain for him, and he wouldn’t be any more close to escape. So he just approached the figure, and waited.

“That’s better” approved her, touching him in the shoulder. The room around them disappeared and the vigilante suddenly found himself in what seemed to be VIP seats in a roman amphitheater. They were wide stone seats, an awning protecting the people out there from the sun. Dick noticed all of them that weren’t cloaked men and women like the one he had at his side were somehow beautiful creatures. And all of them had similar markings to the ones he had. He saw a light green girl, with blue eyes without irises, and was reminded vaguely of Kory. _So this is the Beauty category_ , he thought.

He could hear the multitude roaring in excitement, and he turned to the arena, trying to get a look of what happened out there. From his position, he had quite the view. His mysterious captor followed his gaze, and for a moment she seemed to concentrate. Then she chuckled.

“People are quite excited today. Seems like one of my companions found an interesting specimen for the Strength category from your homeworld. Quite a feat if you ask me. Moreover he seems to be resisting well enough” she said.

Dick furrowed his brow. There was another human in this place? And he seemed to be a good fighter, something vital if they needed to escape. Now, who could it be?

He moved as close to the fighting grounds as he was able, and searched for a human figure between all those alien creatures. He was soon rewarded by the sight of a naked man with red markings rolling to the side to avoid a hit. He couldn’t see his face, but the posture of the other human, the way he moved… It was way too familiar.

Then, when another creature charged at him, the man jumped in the precise second and landed a strong kick in the neck of the attacker, making him wobble. Without a second to let him recuperate, the markings of the human formed a gauntlet –Dick could swear he saw actual claws on it- and the man slashed the neck of his opponent, a gush of black blood splattering the sand. And before the creature fell, the man jumped again and landed few meters away from the corpse. The speed and precision of the counterattack left Dick astonished –he hadn’t expected someone with such a combat experience. Only a handful of people could actually fight like that. The crowd cheered enthusiastically, and the man turned a little, letting Dick confirm what he already suspected.

The man fighting in the arena was Jason Todd.

A rush of different emotions passed through the vigilante. Surprise, anger, fear, relief, all of them trying to burst out of him at the same time. Dick wanted to yell at Jason, call him stupid, ask him if he was ok, but the collar on his neck prevented any sound from leaving his throat. He groaned, feeling useless, and somehow started resenting the fact that he was going to be presented as a pretty face and nothing less and Jason had been selected by his fighting skills. He was Nightwing, goddamit all. He was WAY better than Jay.

In that moment, a loud howl rose from the fighting grounds. Only Jason and a gigantic creature were left. The young vigilante turned slowly and studied his new opponent, and Dick felt his stomach turn upside down. He couldn’t help Jason from where he was, and he prayed the former Robin would be able to win.

Even if he couldn’t get along with the kid, Dick didn’t want to bury him a second time.

 


	3. Chapter 3

The crowd was cheering so loud you could almost call it screaming. Jason wasn’t paying attention to them, though. He had his whole being concentrating on the enemy in front of him. They were the last ones still standing, each one of them trying to figure out the other. The young vigilante instantly felt the creature before him wasn’t an irrational beast, something that only fought for the sake of fighting.

He was faced against and adversary that could make up a strategy against him, that could use his brain and his body to crush him. And boy, was his body a tough one. The creature was huge, almost three and a half meters of weight and half of that in width, with skin alarmingly similar to a crocodile’s. The face was similar to that of a human –a very ugly human, but still- with long and sharp fangs poking out of his mouth. His eyes were completely black, with a spark of intelligence that Jason didn’t like in his situation in the least.

He was up against someone stronger than him and presumably as smart. The odds were not good. He tried to even his breathing and concentrated in moving the ink from his arms to his legs. Somehow along the previous fight he had discovered he could use the markings to enhance the physical capacities of his body. If he was hit on the painting, it acted as a kind of protective skin, making more difficult for someone to kill him. The blows still hurt like bitches though, and he was still sore from whatever he had been done before being abducted. He remembered some kind of explosive going off and seeing himself beating some skulls, but nothing too specific. And now was not the time to sit and think about it.

Jason felt the red ink settle in his legs, and he tested the resistance of his lower limbs. Okay, the markings seemed to ease some of the strain on them. With some luck he could increase his speed to gain some advantage.

“Okay, big guy. Let’s see what you got for me” said the human, readying himself for the big sprint.

The creature growled as a warning, and charged towards him. _Good, he’s relying in brute force_ , thought Jason. He waited for the other to come closer to him, and seconds before a claw as big as his head crashed against his skull, he dodged and pushed him legs to the extreme, moving faster than he ever did, getting behind the creature. He actually got dizzy from the speed, just as if Flash had taken him for a walk around the globe in seconds flat. He blinked and tried to focus again, just to find himself facing the monster’s face again, just inches away from him.

“Oh fu–!” started Jason, before a giant fist crashed against his ribs. The force of the blow threw him across the arena, and he hit the stone wall with a loud scream.

The multitude roared, but the vigilante was too preoccupied by the matters at hand to notice.  He crawled under the debris his crashing had caused, and coughed some of the blood that had invaded his mouth.

 _Fuck fuck fuck fuck_ , thought Jason, reaching carefully to touch his left side, where the creature had hit. He actually expected to find half of his ribs shattered to dust and a punctured lung, but shockingly only one or two seemed broken. He dared to look at the damaged zone and left out a burst of relieved laugh. He had the area covered in red ink.

It seemed his instincts had kicked in just in time to avoid half his body being blown up by the punch.

Carefully, he managed to stand again and threw his match a nasty look. The creature seemed surprised he actually survived the hit. Jason was surprised too, but he’d take the damn chance to make the other pay. He really didn’t like to kill someone that wasn’t a criminal, but in his book when someone threw a punch like that at him… that person he was on his black list for life.

Not that this one had left much to live anyway. Jason was officially pissed and bloodthirsty. Well, MORE than before.

“Hey, ugly! Thought we were supposed to fight, not dance! That punch your best?” spat the young man, managing a dry laughter. He didn’t know if the other being understood him, but the tone in his voice seemed to taunt the other anyway. He charged against Jason again, this time his movements less calculated, more violent and sloppy.

 _He’s pissed. Good, he’ll be easier to fool that way_ , thought Jason. He readied himself again, careful now to not be deceived by the big built of his opponent. He was big, but also fast.

But Jason was faster. This time he tried a different strategy, and using the wall that was left standing, he launched himself towards the attacker, who seemed momentarily taken aback by his actions. A moment was just what Jason needed. In the last second before crashing against his opponent he spun around the body of the creature, digging his ink claws in the strong flesh of his enemy. The momentum of his jump made it easier to cut through the hard skin, but Jason felt some of his fingers hurting and bleeding, as if his nails had come off. Blood gushed from the wound of the creature, and Jason couldn’t help but make a vicious grin. It felt fucking good to get back the bastard for his broken ribs.

The creature let out a yelp of surprise and pain, and touched the fresh opening at his side. Then, to Jason’s surprise, the ink covering the monster’s body enveloped the wound and it automatically stopped bleeding.

“ _What the_ _hell_ …? Seriously?” groaned Jason, the feeling of triumph disappearing. Goodbye to the advantage. It was an interesting property of the ink though, so the young man made the effort to remember the trick.

Both fighters studied each other again, measuring their chances. Jason was fairly sure a third speed attack wouldn’t be successful, and he didn’t want to actually rip off his nails this time. But he didn’t have any other options either. His brain scrambled for an answer and found none. His whole body hurt, the adrenaline pumping through his veins was no longer enough to keep him oblivious to his wounds. He was losing the fight.

And his enemy knew it too.

The other creature let out a low growl, body preparing for another attack. This time, it seemed to have regained some sense, and Jason swore again. If the monster was focused again, he was in some deep shit.

The creature roared, and once again charged at him, this time with calculated motions and speed. Jason groaned, the fear growing on him, his heart thumping like crazy in his chest. He had died once –he knew the dread of being useless against someone that had your life in his hands. The crowd never stopped screaming. It was a background noise the vigilante had turned off since it was annoying the hell out of him, but with his own concentration slipping, the noise returned. And with it, a voice all too familiar.

“The back of his neck, idiot! Under the big spike!”

Jason only had a few seconds to receive, assimilate and use the scream in his favor. If he had been trained by any other than Batman, he probably had given the word “idiot” preference over the rest. Maybe he would even wonder why he was hearing someone speaking English and actually helping him. But even if he hated to admit it, Bruce _did_ teach him to select the right info from wherever it came.

  _There was something in the back of the monster_. Okay.

Jason jumped. He didn’t even think, he just moved and leaped as high as he could, twisting midair and landing on the creature’s back. He allowed himself a second to think _Fuck you, Nightwing! That was way better than your usual hops._

When the creature felt the weight of Jason over him, it tried to shake him of, but the human managed to keep mounted on the thing grabbing the first thing he saw.

A big spike. Jason opened his eyes, realization suddenly hitting him. The back of the monster was plagued by bone spikes, and just under each of them there was a small spot of tender flesh, undoubtedly easier to cut through than the rest of his skin. _A weak point_ , thought Jason, his fear receding, substituted by a feeling of _possibility_.

He had been given a chance. He was going to make use of it.

Jason had just drawn his ink claws again when the big hand of the creature closed around his leg, crushing the bone and making the young man scream. Gasping from the excruciating pain, the vigilante steadied his hand and summoned all the cold blood he could manage from his “other” training. The training Batman never gave him.

Letting out an enraged scream, Jason stabbed the neck of the creature, his claws cutting through flesh and bone and skin like a sword. The monster gurgled, thick blood gushing out of the wound and from his mouth, and fell to the ground. The body convulsed two, three, four times, and then it suddenly stopped moving after letting out a last groan.

The amphitheater went deadly silent for an instant, where Jason could only hear his own heart beating against his ribcage and his pained gasps. He looked at the corpse under him, and managed to crack up a smile.

“Yeah, fuck you too” he mused, spiting the blood on his mouth again.

 The reaction was immediate. As if a dam had been broken, the crowd exploded in ovations for the winner, rising in their seats and whistling and applauding. Jason started to feel sick, and his strength left him the same moment his body decided to cut off his supply of adrenaline. Jason fell down from the creature he had been fighting, and landed on his back. His broken leg sent him a painful reminder to his brain, the same as his ribs, and Jason gasped, his mind too clouded to actually let him scream. He was quickly losing consciousness, the second time that day –and wasn’t that just great? His vision turned red, and he just hoped the spectacle he offered was enough to buy him some medical treatment.

Just before falling completely into the darkness, though, he heard the same voice that had helped him before.

-Jason! Can you hear me? Jason! Don’t you dare die on me, damn you! JAY!

 _Oh, Hell_ , the Red Hood managed to think before blacking out. _Who the fuck called Nightwing?_


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really, really sorry this took so long. I kinda lost the inspiration since this chapter and the next one are kind of slow. I'm trying really hard to get to the part where the action goes down, so please bear with me for a little while.  
> I also want to thank everyone that left kudos and commented, it really motivates me and helps me improve.  
> This said, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

“I still don’t understand why you are doing all this, lady” said Dick as he followed the cloaked figure of the woman. Just after the fight, she had urged him to abandon the stands and follow her through a maze of corridors inside the amphitheater. The man had the feeling the passages went further underground than just the circus, but without any window, it was impossible to know for sure. “Why help Jason?”

“There is so much to win with his triumph… Your scream when he was hurt, your eyes following him and lighting up when he defeated an enemy” she said, not bothering looking back. She just kept going –wherever she was going. “Even if I only expected your voice would motivate him, your instructions paved the road to his ultimate victory. It was better than I wanted to believe at first” she concluded, a tinge of hope in her voice.

Dick frowned. “So, you’re telling me you let me speak again so Jason would get a boost of motivation?” he asked, trying to sound sarcastic.

“You make it sound so crude, but it could be said like that. I manipulated your voice, arranged it so that man could hear you” she said.

Dick grumbled. He wasn’t going to thank the mysterious woman since it was obvious she had interfered for her own profit, but he could be a little bit grateful. For Jason. And just a tiny little bit.

She suddenly stopped, and Dick had to look twice before he saw the door in front of them. She raised her and went for the knob. “Where are we?” asked the young man.

She finally turned to him and cocked her head. “The infirmary” she replied.

Dick felt his breath hitch. “You mean…”

“The man you call Jason is inside, having his wounds tended to.”

Dick was inside the room the second the door opened. He had been chewing his nails off back in the arena. He knew Jason was good, enough to keep himself alive in Gotham –and that was saying a lot. But the former Boy Wonder had always been too brash, and that only ended in tragedy. Dick was not up to living that again.

Once inside the room, his eyes scanned around and found the examination table where Jason was lying at the further end of the infirmary. The boy was still unconscious, but every cut, every bruise and every broken bone seemed to have healed. Dick took a deep breath, relieved that Jay was only sleeping.

He approached the table slowly, without taking his eyes off the other man. It had been so long since he had a chance to actually look at Jason, he was surprised at how much he had changed. The boy that had been half his size was long gone –now a grown man, strong and taller than Dick.

His face, the only thing that Nightwing had seen after Red Hood appeared, was always tense, full of hate or dry humor. But now that he was sleeping, Dick saw the boy that Jason had once been. The boy that, despite his cheekiness and attitude, he had come to love like a brother.

“What are you doing here, Yel’la?” said a voice, surprising Dick.

A cloaked figure –this time a man in black- appeared on the other side of the table, towering over Jason menacingly. Dick tensed his body, ready to attack, when the voice of the woman just behind him made him jump. He really was going to get accustomed to that trick she pulled off if he didn’t want to get a heart attack.

“I wanted my representative to meet with this man. They seem to know each other, quite deeply if I may say” she said.

“Is that any reason to enter the infirmary just when we must prepare for the viewing?” he asked, his voice controlled.

 _Thank God, it’s not just me that doesn’t get what this woman is saying_ , thought Dick.

“My reason is always the same, Shraan” she said, vehemently. “We must always excel in our job. We must offer the best item we have in our power. These two humans know each other. They are placed in different categories, Beauty and Strength, so the qualities they offer are quite different” she said.

“Where are your words aimed at, Yel’la? You are competent, but you lack restraint to correct your enthusiasm” the other interrupted, obviously annoyed by her rant. _One point to the gentleman in black_ , thought Dick.

She sighed, apparently annoyed, and approached the man. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled. “Come, let me explain my plan to you…” she said softly, and then both vanished into the air. Dick blinked, confused. He went to the door and tried to force it to open, to no avail.

He sighed, more resigned than angry. _Figures they would lock us here. So much for an escape plan_ , he thought, turning back to Jason.

He looked again at the young man, noticing the red ink splayed across his torso and legs. Dick swallowed a little, trying not to peek too much but unable to hold back his curiosity. Jason was _attractive_. He immediately found something that got his interest and made him come closer to the unconscious man without even noticing. At first he thought he was wrong, that the light made him see things, but there was no error –Jason had red hair “down there”.

Dick snorted involuntarily. “Damn, I can’t believe I forgot you were a redhead, Jay” he muttered, smiling against his best judgment.

“And I can’t believe you’re checking me out, ‘Wing” said Jason, voice tinged with sarcasm “Did you find what you were looking for?”

Dick cursed and his head snapped to the origin of the voice. Jason was looking at him, one eyebrow lifted and a smirk plastered in his face. Suddenly, Dick felt ashamed and looked away, groaning.

“I was NOT checking you out” he said, trying to hide the blush that had spread through his cheeks.

“Yeah, right. Whatever makes you happy” said Jay, propping himself on his elbows and then sitting in the table. Nightwing was on him the same second he swayed, a rush of blood going suddenly to his brain and making him dizzy.

“Whoa there, don’t get up yet. You got your ass kicked pretty good out there” said the older man, putting his hands in his sibling’s shoulders.

“Shut up, Grayson. I’m fine” grumbled Jason, batting away the other man. “And I had everything under control down there”.

Dick rolled his eyes, and snorted. “Yeah, right. Because being thrown like a rag doll into a concrete wall is being in control of a situation” he said. “If not for my advice, you wouldn’t have won”.

Jason glared at the other man and growled. “I didn’t need your fucking help. I could have won anyway”.

Nightwing groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is it so painful for you to say thanks for once, Jason?” he asked.

Jason snarled and jumped off the table, invading Dick’s personal space and throwing him a death glare from above. The older man refused to twitch, but was startled by Jason’s intensity.

“I can save myself, Nightwing! You hear me? I don’t need you, or Batman, or anyone to look after me!” scowled the younger man.

Dick growled and pointed his finger to Jason, poking his chest. “Well, it’s obvious that this time you weren’t going to escape alive!”

“Oh, so you had to jump in and help poor defenseless Jay? That’s so fucking noble of you…” snorted the man.

“I just told you a weak point you could exploit…!”

“I could have seen it myself…!”

“Obviously you weren’t…!”

“So you had to be the hero and tell the outcast how to win?!” yelled Jason, closing the distance between their faces by mere inches.

“I had to tell you because it was evident you were going down and I couldn’t stand you dying again!” replied Dick, locking his eyes to Jason’s.

The young man was caught with his guard down and blinked, confusion taking a hold on his face. Nightwing could have almost laughed if he wasn’t so agitated for the fight.

For a moment there, it seemed as Jason was going to say something, but finally decided against it. Dick was so close to Jason that he could feel the body heat coming from Jay’s body, the tension in his muscles slowly fading away, his lips relaxing and his eyes losing the dangerous edge.

Then Jason snorted, and a conceited smile crossed his face. “Heh, I guess you would miss me, Big Wing” he said. There was no malice in his taunt, and Dick released the air he didn’t know was holding.

“Only because Gotham would be boring without you trying to make things difficult for us” he said, cocking his head and smiling with as much smugness as possible.

Then Jay actually laughed, and Dick decided he didn’t like anything better than having Jason making that sound. Just like when he was a Robin, a clear laugh, now deeper and rumbling, a laugh that crept over Dick’s spine and made his toes curl. And the mouth that produced that sound… with _red_ lips, _full_ and so damn _kissable_ …

Then Jason moved his face away, leaving Nightwing’s personal space and breaking the moment. It was then Dick snapped out of his daydream and made a herculean effort to hide the massive embarrassment he was feeling right now. _OhGodohGodohGod. What the hell am I thinking this is Jason we’re talking about_ , he thought, fighting the blush in his cheeks.

Thankfully, the younger man didn’t seem to be paying attention to Dick, and was looking around the room. “So… Just where in the goddamn galaxy do you think we are?” he groaned.

Dick thanked heaven for small favors and blocked his previous thoughts. “We’re being sold as slaves, and by the great number of different races on sale, I’d say there’s no way this is some sort of legal tradition or something like that. But since no one from the Green Lantern Corps has showed up by now, I think we are either in an unknown sector of the galaxy –which is pretty improbable- or these people have found a way to avoid the surveillance of the Lanterns” he said.

“Well that’s just fucking awesome!” said Jason, raking his fingers through his hair. “Just my luck to be kidnapped just after a grenade blew up right in my nose.”

“Wha…? A grenade?! What the hell were you doing?”

“Going to the theatre. Are you an idiot? What do you think I was doing? Raided some drug-dealing trash in Gotham’s harbor”.

Dick pinched his nose and sighed. He was not going to ask about firearms. He already knew Red Hood’s methods. Then Jason seemed to think of something and turned towards him, hands on his hips.

“Why weren’t you on the arena, Grayson?” asked Jason, taping his hip bone with his fingers and making Dick blush a little harder trying not to look a bit down from there. “At least your jumps and your shit can be used for entertainment.”

The older man grumbled. “Watch it, Little Wing, I’m still better than you. And… I wasn’t in the same category as you”.

“No? Which one then? They got you for your pretty face and bubble butt?”

That last one was obviously intended as a taunt, but it came way too close home, and Dick twitched. Jason stopped for a second and opened his eyes, and then laughed so loudly Dick could feel his blush spreading to his neck and ears.

“Oh God, tell me you’re joking! Seriously? Damn, Dickiebird, that’s gotta be humiliating” snorted Jason, his green eyes bright with actual tears.

“Shut up. Shut up!” growled Dick, pushing Jay on the shoulder. The other just smirked, and both fell into silence.

“So… you think they are going to sell us now?” asked Jason, moments later.

Dick didn’t answer immediately. Yes, he was sure the auction would start soon, but he didn’t want to think of being separated from Jason, without means to know where they would end.

“Nightwing?” called Jason.

The older man shook his head. “Yeah. They’ll show us and we’ll be sold to some rich alien” he said, sighing.

“Awesome” muttered Jason. “If we had at least away to find some weapons…”

“Weapons are the least of our problems. We have to find a way to stay together. We’ll have more chances that way” said Dick.

Jason laughed dryly, without humor in his voice. “Nice. Now go and convince one of those buyers to pay for both of us”.

Dick groaned. Jason was right –it was going to be really difficult. Then, he felt a sudden chill in the back of his neck, and turned around just in time to see the cloaked figures materialize in the room. He glanced towards Jason, who had adopted a defensive stance, and waited for some of the figures to talk.

“You are lucky, humans. Today you are going to be presented to the highest society in the galaxy, and even you will have a chance to honor your masters together” it was the woman, of course. She seemed really excited, and Dick frowned.

“What the hell does that mean?” asked Jason.

“Yel’la meant that since you are from the human race, in previous knowledge of each other and in different categories, you will be presented together, as an only item, to be enjoyed together. I must say that, though unusual, this new way to present items may prove quite satisfactory for all parties involved” said the man in black, arms crossed. He seemed content, and Dick wondered if Yel’la wouldn’t have talked him into sharing her enthusiasm.

But what was important was the fact that they were actually going to be together out there. Dick looked at Jason, hope blooming in his chest, and saw the younger man relax a little and turn to him. Red Hood shrugged, and Nightwing smiled a little.

The cloaked figures approached them, Shraan raising a hand and making a collar appear in Jason’s neck, and Yel’la doing the same with Dick. Jason’s was deep black, and Dick’s pure white, but the design was exactly the same for both of them. Both men groaned at the garments, but neither said a word.

“Let us go, my precious” said Yel’la, gesturing with her hand towards the door. “You have your future master waiting for you”.


End file.
